How loud are air taxis?
Air taxi makers say their aircraft are quiet. Here’s how regulators measure noise, what NASA recorded, and what the companies say about their own aircraft. We checked every source on October 19, 2026.
How is aircraft noise measured?
In decibels. The FAA explains that the scale is logarithmic, which matches the way our ears hear sound pressure. Most figures you’ll see are in dBA, an A-weighted scale that the FAA says comes closest to how loud a sound seems to a person. Source: FAA, Fundamentals of Noise and Sound (opens in new tab).
A single reading isn’t the whole story. Around airports, the FAA uses DNL, the day-night average sound level, to describe a person’s total exposure over 24 hours. For certification, Europe’s regulator, EASA, measures takeoff, overflight and approach in EPNdB, a perceived-noise metric, and hover in LAeq, an A-weighted average. Sources: FAA (opens in new tab), EASA EPTS for non-tilting rotors, December 12, 2023 (opens in new tab).
What did NASA measure?
From August 30 to September 10, 2021, NASA recorded Joby’s prototype at Joby’s flight base near Big Sur, California, with more than 50 microphones and its Mobile Acoustics Facility. Source: NASA, 2021 (opens in new tab).
NASA’s paper on the test found that approaches were louder than departures, and that cruising on the wing was the quietest phase it tested. Hover readings moved by 2 to 5 dB within a single run, and more between runs. Source: NASA, Acoustic Flight Test of the Joby Aviation Advanced Air Mobility Prototype Vehicle, 2022 (opens in new tab).
How loud do the companies say they are?
These are each company’s own figures:
- Joby says NASA’s data showed 45.2 dBA from 500 meters (1,640 feet) up at 100 knots, and under 65 dBA at 100 meters (330 feet) from the flight path during takeoff and landing. Company-stated. Source: Joby, May 10, 2022 (opens in new tab).
- SkyDrive says its SD-05 makes about 65 dB at street level when it flies 150 meters overhead. It puts helicopters at 80 to 100 dB. Company-stated. Source: SkyDrive SD-05 page (opens in new tab).
The two figures use different distances and conditions, so they aren’t a side-by-side comparison.
What noise rules do air taxis have to meet?
In the U.S., FAA noise standards live in 14 CFR Part 36, which already covers helicopters and tiltrotors. The FAA says it checks each powered-lift application to see whether Part 36 fits. If it doesn’t, the FAA writes a noise rule for that one aircraft and publishes it in the Federal Register. It already writes noise rules this way for delivery drones, the first for Matternet’s M2 in 2022. Sources: FAA AC 21.17-4, July 18, 2025 (opens in new tab), FAA, noise rules for drones and AAM (opens in new tab).
In Europe, EASA issued noise specifications for air taxis with rotors that don’t tilt in December 2023, and for tilting rotors in July 2024. For the first group, the limits match those for heavy helicopters while EASA collects more data. A hover test was added to help judge noise near vertiports. Sources: EASA EPTS, December 12, 2023 (opens in new tab), EASA, July 16, 2024 (opens in new tab).
Noise is one part of certification. How the FAA certifies powered-lift air taxis explains the rest, and What is a vertiport? covers where they’ll land.
Are they quieter than helicopters?
The companies say yes. Meeting Europe’s limits for rotors that don’t tilt doesn’t prove it, because those limits match heavy helicopters. Air taxi vs. helicopter compares the two on seats, range, cost and rules, and Are air taxis safe? covers the safety targets.